As conservative activists land in Washington, D.C. to gather at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, leaders of the conservative movement are meeting at the Collingwood Library in Alexandria, Virginia today at 2:30 PM to publicly unveil what has become known as the Mount Vernon Statement. The Collingwood estate was an original part of George Washington’s Mount Vernon real estate holdings.
This updated conservative doctrine is similar to the 1960 Sharon Statement which was created by movement leaders fifty years ago and signed at William F. Buckley’s home in Connecticut. The Mount Vernon Statement makes proclamations like the two excerpts below:
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“The conservatism of the Declaration asserts self-evident truths based on the laws of nature and nature’s God. It defends life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It traces authority to the consent of the governed. It recognizes man’s self-interest but also his capacity for virtue.”
“The conservatism of the Constitution limits government’s powers but ensures that government performs its proper job effectively. It refines popular will through the filter of representation. It provides checks and balances through the several branches of government and a federal republic.”
The Mount Vernon Statement will be signed by the following 80 individuals who are active in the movement this afternoon.:
Edwin Meese, former U.S. Attorney General under President Reagan
Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America
Edwin Feulner, Jr., president of the Heritage Foundation
Lee Edwards, Distinguished Fellow in Conservative Thought at the Heritage Foundation, was present at the Sharon Statement signing.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council
Becky Norton Dunlop, president of the Council for National Policy
Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center
Alfred Regnery, publisher of the American Spectator
David Keene, president of the American Conservative Union
David McIntosh, co-founder of the Federalist Society
T. Kenneth Cribb, former domestic policy adviser to President Reagan
Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform
William Wilson, President, Americans for Limited Government
Elaine Donnelly, Center for Military Readiness
Richard Viguerie, Chairman, ConservativeHQ.com
Kenneth Blackwell, Coalition for a Conservative Majority
Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring
Kathryn J. Lopez, National Review The